Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

Xiao Wan said with some grievance.

"Very good, you're quite a smart girl. Don't think you've arrived in paradise just because you've left the Hundred Ghosts Parade. Apart from Paradise Island, the metropolis is full of hell."

"For Liu Zheng's sake, I will protect you as a family member in public, but I will also discipline you as a family member in private."

"Our Yakuza red soup's punishments aren't as severe as the Hundred Ghosts' Gym, but they're not easy to endure either."

"Did you hear that clearly?"

"Sumiko said loudly."

"Hi! Sumireko-sama."

“Very good. Come on, let me take you to choose your rooms.”

Jinzi led one of them by the hand and walked them deeper into the bathhouse.

After seeing Qingzi and Xiaowan off, Liu Zheng took the Nile River Doctor back.

As long as he's inside the tank, he's basically safe; whether there's one more Nile or one less Nile is irrelevant.

Anyone who could kill him while he was protected by the "hounds" driven by the driver would be a fool unless the Nile doctor directly summoned the Winged Dragon of Ra.

After leaving the clinic, Liu Zheng went to Rose Street.

Aside from the street where the Bloody Restaurant was located, this was the street he knew best; it felt like coming home.

"I am back."

Liu Zheng said loudly.

"Who welcomes you, you idiot human?"

The plane tree rolled its eyes at him.

"Don't be so cold, we're drinking buddies after all."

Liu Zheng said with a smile.

"Who says you're a drinking buddy? You're just a liquor dealer at best."

The plane tree scoffed.

"Even a buyer-seller relationship is still a relationship. I brought you another bottle of fine wine this time, I guarantee it's a rare, limited edition."

"Really? Let me smell it."

A root extends from a London plane tree.

A true connoisseur can tell the quality of a wine just by smelling it.

"No rush. There's something I need the help of our esteemed French nobleman, His Excellency Charles de Lego."

Liu Zheng placed one hand on his chest and bowed slightly.

"Tch, I knew you cunning human wouldn't come looking for anything good. Tell me, what do you want to exchange this time?"

The plane tree curled its lip.

"Do you still have that coffin made from your bark from last time?"

he asked.

What do you need that for?

The plane tree asked in return.

"I just went to the cemetery again; the caretaker there wants this."

Liu Zheng said.

"Oh. No way."

The French plane tree resolutely refused.

"Huh? Why?"

He was puzzled.

This shouldn't be anything particularly valuable to a London plane tree, otherwise it wouldn't have been given to him so easily last time.

"Our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents. The bark of this tree is like my skin. Do you understand, you illiterate human?"

The plane tree said emphatically.

"Leaving aside the question of whether tree bark counts as skin, do you even know who your parents are?"

Liu Zheng squinted and said.

If bestowing wisdom is equated with bestowing life, then its parents are very likely those wicked creatures in the Chaos Club.

"Mind your own business, humans, about what happens to our trees."

The plane trees were enraged.

"Given our relationship, let's not beat around the bush. Just say what's on your mind."

He was getting a little impatient.

"Who cares about you, you arrogant human?"

The plane tree habitually retorted with a rebuttal, then paused and said...

"Do you think tree bark sheds randomly? Apart from shed bark in accordance with the growth cycle, shedding bark requires the loss of a large amount of life essence."

"The coffin I gave you last time was my last reserve. If you want it again, you'll have to wait until I shed my skin naturally next time."

"When will you shed your skin naturally next time?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"next year."

"You might as well just say there's nothing left."

He rolled his eyes.

Not to mention that he won't even live to see that time, by then the plane trees will have all turned into phoenixes, and there won't be any bark left.

"Hmph, that's pretty much what I meant anyway."

The plane tree pursed its lips.

"Wait a minute, didn't you say you were eighteen? Then you should have at least eighteen bark coffins, right? Where are the other coffins?"

Liu Zheng discovered the blind spot.

"They've all been sold. Otherwise, how do you think I have so many collections? And how could there only be eighteen? The bark that falls off a tree once can make several coffins. Otherwise, I would have been poor to death long ago."

The plane trees stand proudly.

"Um"

He was speechless for a moment.

Liu Zheng originally thought that the collection of plane trees was obtained by collecting garbage and collecting tolls, but he never expected that it was obtained by selling his own bark coffins. Now he has truly become a self-employed individual.

"You've had it pretty tough too."

He said it in a complicated tone.

For a moment, I didn't know whether to envy or laugh.

"No one has an easy time living in the metropolis."

The plane tree, unusually, did not respond.

"Is there any other way? I really need this coffin."

Liu Zheng told it about signing a contract with the tomb keeper.

"If you can get me a wood elf corpse, I can give you a coffin, the kind made from a single piece of bark."

After listening, the plane tree pondered for a long time before speaking.

"The corpse of a wood elf? Oh, the one you wanted milk and acorns for, right?"

He recalled for a moment and said.

"Yeah, it's only been a few days and you've already forgotten. You really are a stupid human."

The plane tree seized the opportunity to mock.

"hehe."

Liu Zheng was too lazy to leave it.

This guy just stands here all day without doing anything, of course he'll remember.

He has to do so many things every day; if he could remember everything, he wouldn't be inhuman, he'd be a superhuman.

"What if the wood elf corpse in the kitchen has already been used?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Then you can just wait to die."

The plane tree said mercilessly.

"Tch, I'm going to die, then you'll never get to drink such a rare wine again."

He took out the kojima (a type of Chinese liquor) from Qingzi.

"what?"

The plane tree rolled up a bottle of chewed liquor and brought it to its nose to smell.

"What kind of wine is this? It smells so unique."

Its eyes lit up.

"This is kuchikami-zake, a fine wine that only pure virgins can brew. This particular bottle was brewed by the most talented girl in a long-established family when she was fourteen years old, originally intended as a ceremonial wine for her successful atavism."

"Therefore, theoretically speaking, this pot of wine is not only a unique piece, but also an absolute masterpiece."

Liu Zheng explained.

"Your tone is exactly like that of an auctioneer at an auction."

"It's a plane tree," said the French plane tree.

"This shows that great minds think alike. So, what do you say, do you want it or not?"

"Yes! What do you want to exchange it for?"

It gritted its teeth and said.

Scarcity increases value; most of the time, the value of collectibles is an added value.

This bottle of baijiu might just be an ordinary collectible for the average collector, but for a wine lover and collector like France Sycamore, it's a killer item.

“I originally wanted to change to a bark coffin, but you definitely won’t. So you can decide what to do. I trust you.”

Liu Zheng said generously.

He understood the French sycamore; after all, it was about to evolve, and losing a large amount of its life essence at this time was definitely not an option.

"Here we go again. Humans are so cunning."

The plane tree gave him a disdainful look, then began rummaging through the black soil.

Soon, the tree roots broke through the soil and flung a dark shadow towards Liu Zheng.

He raised his tentacles to block it, then caught it before it fell to the ground.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a bamboo back scratcher, commonly known as an "old man's joy."

However, the hand part was not a prosthetic hand made of bamboo, but several human fingers twisted and intertwined together.

Name: Endless Fun for Seniors (Disposable)

Type: Item

Quality: Excellent

"Effect: Upon contact with the target, the target will enter a state of persistent and intense itching. Even targets without a corresponding sensory system will feel discomfort on a mental level. The duration is negatively correlated with the target's mental attributes, with a minimum of one second."

Note: The more you scratch, the itchier it gets, and the itchier it gets, the more you scratch.